CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4
(c)
Mechanisms for children to participate in all matters affecting them,
particularly in family, schools and communities are lacking.
36.
The Committee urges the State party to promote the right of children to be
heard fully in all matters affecting them, including before courts and administrative
bodies, within families, schools, media, and in society in general without the
requirement of obtaining the authorization of his/her guardian. In this regard, the
Committee recommends that the State party undertake awareness-raising campaigns
and educational programmes in order to inform children and others, including
parents and legal professionals, of children’s right to express their views and of the
mechanisms and other opportunities which exist for this purpose. The Committee
draws the attention of the State party to its general comment No. 12 (2009) on the
right of the child to be heard.
C.
Civil rights and freedoms (arts. 7, 8, 13-17, 19 and 37 (a) of the
Convention)
Birth registration
37.
The Committee notes as positive that birth registration is almost universal in the
State party. The Committee is however concerned that:
(a)
Registration officers and family judges often refuse to register children born
out of wedlock although no legal restriction exists concerning the registration of those
children;
(b)
Refugee and stateless children are not systematically provided with birth
certificates which puts them at risk of statelessness and hinders their access to essential
social services; and
(c)
Unregistered children are deprived of access to schools and are enrolled in
mosques and in literary classes.
38.
The Committee urges the State party to ensure that all children within the
territory of the State party living in Algeria, including children born out of wedlock,
refugee and stateless children are registered at birth. The State party should also
urgently issue clear instructions to all schools throughout the territory that all
children, irrespective of their registration status should be enrolled into public schools
and that no child should be deprived access to education.
Name and nationality
39.
While welcoming the amendment of the Nationality Code in 2005, giving Algerian
women the right to transfer their nationality to their children born to a foreign father, the
Committee expresses concern that in some cases however, Algerian mothers have to seek
the agreement of a family judge in order to pass on their nationality to their children. The
Committee also expresses concern that children born out of wedlock are often denied to
take their mother’s family name and instead are registered with two surnames, a situation
which leads to their identification as children born out of wedlock and to their subsequent
stigmatization. The Committee is further concerned that in some cities, Berber families are
denied their right to register their children with an Amazigh surname.
40.
The Committee recalls the responsibilities of the State party, in accordance
with articles 2 and 7 of the Convention, to ensure that all children within the State
party’s jurisdiction have the right to be registered and acquire a nationality,
8